dougscroggins

<p>So glad we finally started this thread! Canon 7D w/Tamron 28-75 f/2.8</p><div></div>

<p>Some of the smart a$$ responses on here show a deep lack of professionalism and respect. If you don't have anything to contribute to the poster then don't post a reply. You are not required to reply to every post you read and when you choose to be a child in doing so you serve as a nothing more than a deterrence to some who would otherwise post a question. Glad to see you had some honest and informative replies Oliver. Good luck getting it all figured out.</p>

<p>I'm by no means a professional, but to my untrained eye it appears there is a strobe hitting the snowboarder on the edge of the half-pipe to his right. If you look closely you can see a slight rim light on the upper lip of the right side of the half-pipe. The light in the shot seems to be lighting the pipe more than the rider. Take my opinion for what it's worth, which is little, but I thought I would put it out there.</p>

<p>Thanks again R Smith. I would not have been happy to get the JrX's basics just to find out they weren't what I needed. :) I will definitely get the PX transmitter as it seems to be taking way too long for the "RP Cube" to come to fruition. M.P., I have checked out the Cybersyncs and would definitely jump on ship if I didn't already have some Radio Poppers gear in my arsenal. Thanks for the heads up boss. </p>

<p>Hey everybody. i have posted this question over a week ago in both Digital Darkroom and Film and Processing and I have had no responses. Repost: This was originally posted in Digital Darkroom and received no responses. I am re-posting it here hoping somebody will help me out. Here goes:<br>

Hey all. As always let me thank you in advance for any help with my problem. I am a new client with WHCC printing and I am having problems with there templates in Photoshop. I am using Photoshop CS3 and I have downloaded the templates from the WHCC web-site. I open the templates and they are merely a blank white page. I was told by WHCC staff that I needed to turn on the "View-Guides" but the "Guides" selection is grayed out. They advised me to download the templates again and I have, with no change to my problem. Does anybody have any idea what I may be doing wrong or what I need to do differently. I am dying to put their "Boxes" to use. I would gladly make my email available to anybody that would be willing to send me their working templates to see if that is my problem. Thanks again and I look forward to getting this figured out with your help.</p>

<p>I too upgraded from an XSi and I settled on the 7D. I did my first shoot with it yesterday and I can tell you it is clearly a considerable upgrade. I cannot tell you about the 5D but I know that you will be making a change as to the focal lengths of any lenses you already own if you go with a full frame. The 7D's focus accuracy is amazing and I have literally only a few from a 600+ shots session that were not significantly sharper than my Rebel. Again, I can't comment on the comparison to the 5D, but I can say with a high degree of safety that you will not be disappointed in the 7D. It's amazing!</p>

<p>Although I don't have one, I would be in the "very excited" group. "L" series lenses are praised for their durability and high quality output. You will hopefully see the value in the lens on your first outing. Reference examples, have you checked out Flickr for examples of what that lens can do? There are groups in Flickr for just about every type of lens available and they can do a lot to show you what a lens is capable of. I know the quality filter on Flickr isn't the best, but it's a start. Congratulations on joining the "L" family. I hope to join soon myself as I too have recently bought a 7D.</p>

<p>I will be doing my first weddings this year and although not free, they will likely aid my client much more than my wallet. I just wanted to say that via this thread I have been elevated from "a fan" off William W's, to "a HUGE fan". Your in depth and comprehensive explanation of your approach is priceless sir, and I cannot thank you enough for being such a benefit for those of us trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible. God bless!</p>

<p>Hey all. As always let me thank you in advance for any help with my problem. I am a new client with WHCC printing and I am having problems with the templates in Photoshop. I am using Photoshop CS3 and I have downloaded the templates from the WHCC web-site. I open the templates and they are merely a blank white page. I was told by WHCC staff that I needed to turn on the "View-Guides" but the "Guides" selection is grayed out. They advised me to download the templates again and I have, with no change to my problem. Does anybody have any idea what I may be doing wrong or what I need to do different. I am dying to put their "Boxes" to use. I would gladly make my email available to anybody that would be willing to send me their working templates to see if that is my problem. Thanks again and I look forward to getting this figured out with your help.</p>

<p>Thank you all so much for the direct and clearly laid out explanations. Through your statements I have concluded that I would basically be able to maintain ETTL capability with the 580EXII only, and would need the radio poppers transmitter in order to control the AB's which would be set manually and then have their power levels controlled from said transmitter. That actually works out better as it will leave me in full control of my exposures without having to trust ETTL. R Smith, your insight and in depth advice were so very well stated that I feel like I read a book. I will be purchasing the PX transmitter and JrX receivers (I am in love with the reliability that my JrX system has shown) and am confident with the help of all that replied that I can do this right the first time. Thanks again so very much!!</p>

<p>Hello all. Let me start by thanking everybody in advance for your time on helping me get some things figured out. I am about to purchase a 7D and I currently have a 450D and a 580EXII. I also own (1) Radio Poppers JRx transmitter and (1) basic receiver. My dilemma: I am about to purchase an AlienBees 1600 flash and an additional 800 probably shortly thereafter. I am looking for a way to remotely trigger the AB's while my 580EXII is in the hotshoe. I do not want to use the master/slave option (flash sensor) as they are limited to line of site shooting and don't appear to have the dependability I require. I would really like to find a way to do this while maintaining my ETTL capability in addition to high speed sync. Is there a setup anybody out there you are using to make this all work? I am concerned with the Pocket Wizards reliability reference their repeated problems with RF interference. I am likewise concerned with Radio Poppers lack of high speed sync and their "mounting" setup in general. Is there a product I am overlooking that will do what I need? Please help me get this figured out. Your input and knowledge are my only hope to stop this madness. Thanks again, Doug.<br>

In case anybody would be aided as to how I plan to apply the lighting: My goal is to set the two AB's on opposing sides of a dance floor with the 580EXII mounted on the shoe. I intend on applying the appropriate light modifiers to the AB's and bounce the speedlite or use it for fill depending on my position as it relates to the AB's.</p>

<p>Wow guys...thanks for all of the information. I have so much to learn as it relates to WB obviously. Sorry I didn't respond sooner to thank all of you but as you can imagine the holidays are making things crazy. Never thought about using the Raw eyedropper that way Bob, that's a great idea. Thanks again everybody so very much for your time and knowledge.</p>

<p>Hey all. Let me start by thanking all of you in advance for reading my question and hopefully helping me out a little. I am getting deeper into my photography and one of the things I am realizing I could really use help on is white balance. I have seen a photographer on site who used a gray reflector that was 18% gray and they stated they used it to set their white balance in Lightroom. I am assuming they used it in some way in conjunction with lightroom to set the proper color temp for all of the photo's in that series. Does anybody have a workflow or product they use that they could recommned? I am clueless as to how the procedure is done from start to finish so any detailed explanation would be greatly appreciated. <br>

Also if it's not too much to add on. If I am shooting with my 580EXII in a tungsten or flouroscent lit room is it possible to get the photo completely accurate color wise without putting a gel on my flash? Also, will each shot vary if I don't get the flash depending on how much of my subject is lit by my flash vs. the light in the room. Again thanks for any help. If this "beginner" question would have been better suited for lighting I apologize but I felt it shows my "beginnerness". :)</p>

<p>Also Mandi, I would suggest learning to use your camera flash in manual mode. It is nowhere near as desirable as ETTL but knowing how it works may save a shoot if you have a repeat occurrence with the hot-shoe problem. It will also help you if and when you get into multiple light source setups where ETTL isn't really a possibility. Good luck shooting!</p>

<p>Yes I was just about to second the note to look up Flashzebra. They are very well educated as to the specific characteristics of cameras and speedlites and pretty much know what you need to do whatever you want depending on what gear you have. I will buy everything they carry that I need even if it costs more than their competitors. They were so quick to reply to an email, on a weekend at 9 p.m. no less, and shipped the item the next morning so I would get it in time for a shoot. Anyway, not to carry on but I will say they will take care of all of your needs. Good luck shooting.</p>

<p>Patrick I barely know you but what I do know is that you took time out of your day to offer assistance to people in an area where there are tons of questions and too few to offer good advice, often. To anybody and everybody who took the time to get on here and whine about his use of all caps I say this: You didn't have to open the link, and you definitely didn't have to waste our time with your panny anny pissing and moaning about "etiquette" as you think it applies here or anywhere for that matter. Save your keystrokes for something that might make a difference in the world of an amateur photographer, if you have the knowledge or skill to present it with any conviction as Patrick does. You guys are the reason I don't really look at Photo.net any more with all of your holier than though grabasstic blubbery. Grab a camera and do something worth talking about and leave the computer to grown ups who wish to teach and learn. You must lead some very sad lives. Thanks Patrick for taking the time to help us that wish to learn and ignore the ingrates who don't have enough positive things to tie up their sad existence. Douchers.</p>

<p>I know I already posted and declared that I am both a photographer and a Police Officer but let me restate that before adding the following. Those of you taking this OP's story as a chance to take a blanket swipe at law enforcement, you need to get a grip on reality. You don't know the whole story, you never will. Police get ridiculous calls about ridiculous stuff all day, every day. We don't have the option of not responding to calls given to us by dispatch. To fail to do so is a quick way to find yourself unemployed. If someone called just because he was in front of their house taking pictures, albeit of a church, a cat, or even a tree, then the Officer is obligated to go make contact with that person due to the logged concern of the citizen. It has to be addressed regardless of merit. The Officer said "Watch out" and some of you say you should have complained and maybe "knocked him down a few notches". I think that as much as some will argue about some cops being bullies, some citizens only think so because they are granted authorities that those same citizens do not, will not, and could not possess. It is a thankless job and just like you sometimes our day isn't going so well and the people we work with end up having to deal with it. Ask any of your co-workers if you have ever had a "grumpy" day and I bet I can already tell you the answer. Before cracking the whip over our backs remember that there is not a person, no not one, serving time in prison or your local jail that has gotten there of his own free will. He was tracked down through investigation and effort that is strongly based on our desire to keep our society free of those that wish to disturb it. Are there some a-hole cops out there? Of course but for the most part we do a thankless job day in and day out and we do it not for the money but because somebody has to be the sheep dog keeping the fox off the herds back. Get a job where you have to strap a bullet proof vest to your back every day and kiss your family knowing that your decision to protect the lives of your citizens may cost you your own and then talk to me about what it's like to walk in our shoes. Yes we make the decision to do it, but somebody has to. If we didn't nobody would be taking pictures of anything because the bulk of society doesn't have the capacity for violence that would be required to protect their own life in pursuit of such pleasures. OP, he told you to watch yourself and you have waivered considerably in your emotional spectrum as to how it effected you. Get over it and be thankful that that man would have run right at a gun toting perp wanting to take your camera, or god forbid your life. Who knows, he may have just come from a call where a man was bathing his 1 year old in a bath of scalding hot water to punish him as I did recently. Now if you would, tell me just how bad this run in was with him again.</p>

<p>As a Police Officer and photography "hobbyist" I would suggest that since you were in a "non-white" neighborhood the Officer may have used the words "watch yourself" as simply that. You admit yourself that your carrying a big bulky camera and maybe robberies aren't as uncommon as you would think where you were. We have a church in town that is as beautiful as any other here and I assure you I wouldn't want to be out walking around it even in daylight with a big camera in my hands. Some cops are badge heavy for sure but sometimes we are just brief and it gets misconstrued as badge heavy. He didn't threaten to cite you or arrest you for that matter so take it for what it is, an Officer not being overly polite. As another subject stated he may have been dispatched by your everyday "concerned citizen" that has nothing better to do than call about anything they might consider suspicious. In that case he is required by oath to check it out so that he can tell the boss that it was nothing with a clear conscious that he actually determined that to be the case. Don't let such a small interaction seem so domineering Ed, I wouldn't.</p>

<p>I just bought the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 (across all focal lengths) and I love it. Luckily I didn't have to dump a girlfriend to get it as it only cost $450. Woot!</p>

<p>Hey sorry I missed it the first time but something else you need to realize Melissa. If you are getting good exposures with your setting's on the camera and you open up your aperture by one stop you will naturally notice an increase in the overall exposure unless you change the shutter speed conversely. Assuming that is that you are shooting on manual mode. This may explain why you are getting a change in exposure values when you open up the shutter values. It would also help to know what settings you are using when you are getting problems with your flash not firing. Camera's generally have a maximum flash-sync speed of around 1/250th of a second. With the newer flash systems and camera's you can exceed those speeds but again the two have to be able to communicate and you usually have to change the camera settings so the flash will fire when you go beyond those parameters. </p>

<p>Hey Melissa. While I don't proclaim to be anything more than an amateur myself I wanted to tell you that I had the same problem two shoots back. I am using Canon gear and the 580EXII flash but it gave me the same problem in that it wasn't firing every time like it should have. I replaced the batteries and haven't had the problem repeat itself so I'm pretty confident that's all it was on my end. I am not familiar with Nikon gear but I know the D90 is a a great camera and I would imagine your flash and camera have ETTL capability. (I think they call it something else in the Nikon family but it is basically where the camera and flash communicate with one another to make sure the flash knows how much light to put out to get the correct exposure, generally) Under the presumption that your camera and flash are communicating then opening up your aperture should cause the power put out by your flash to be slightly decreased without any further input from you. I will cut out here and leave the Nikonians to help you better. I hope you get it all figured out and hope I've helped, even if only a little.</p>

<p>Bill: I visited the website you recommended and I think I have it all figured out. Thanks so much for the advice my friend. Awesome site!</p>

<p>Okay so I've come into some luck. I recently got a $200 gift card to a camera store from a friend who I have done shots for at no charge. I will be using that to help get both the lens and the wireless triggers. Awesome! Thanks for the input everybody. I would like to address a few things that came up though. I do not have the kit lens so this lens will come in very handy. I do have a 28-90mm lens that came with the camera but it is an f/4.0, non usm, non IS, so it stayed in my bag most all of the time. <br>

Bill: I tried to set my flash off camera some time ago via a sync cord but the local camera shop seemed unable to help me figure out how to do it since my XSi doesn't have a sync cord socket. We tried mounting a "shoe mount" adapter to the top of the camera that was outfitted with a sync cord socket but we couldn't get a cord that had the proper ends to connect it to the 580EXII. I would still love to figure out how to accomplish it as a backup in the event that the wireless triggers I am getting go faulty. I will check out the site you mentioned and any more info you could provide would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you so very much, all of you. Doug.</p>

<p>Hello all. Let me start as always for thanking you for your input on this question. I have recently saved up some money and have two purchase options to decide between that I'm hoping you can help me with. I currently have an XSi and a 580EXII flash. I am an amateur and shoot for friends and family at little cost. I find myself shooting with my 50mm f/1.8 almost entirely for the shallow depth of field but I am noticing I am missing some good candid's due to the fixed mm on a prime lens. I have $500 and have decided to buy the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 to solve the problem. However, a company has just released a sturdy wireless triggering device that I could purchase in addition to all of the gear needed to place my flash off camera, for even less than the cost of the lens. So my question is this. Would I get better shots, and surely more creative ones, in setting up off camera lighting or should I go with the lens since I do 99% of my shooting outdoors anyway? Please help as I have a photo shoot on Saturday and if I go with the lens I can get it before the shoot. Thanks again.</p>

<p>Hello Kristy and welcome to the DSLR world. I have had my XSi for almost a year now and after reading several reviews I purchased the Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens for around $90. That lens almost never leaves my camera. The only time I pull out another lens is when I need to be able to get into different mm lengths and can't really move around or when I am shooting groups larger than 3 people and landscapes. The speed that your able to get into in low light with the wide aperture really makes it shine. I would highly recommend making your next purchase a good flash though as they still do a great job of filling in shadows without flattening your image. Do know though that once you get used to this fast lens you will have a hard time going to a lens that tops out at f/3.5. <br>

Feel free to check out my site (creativecapture.photoshop.com-no www in front of it) to see what the lens can do. Almost every shot was taken with the 50 mm lens. Keep in mind that the lens does not put out tac sharp photo's when its opened all the way up to f/1.8 (no lens is at its sharpest opened all the way though) but used properly it still manages to pack a beautiful wallop. Especially given its cost. Good luck to you madam and remember that you will get out of photography what you put into it. Study, study, and then study some more. Best wishes, Doug.</p>